The European Union, the League of Arab States, Egypt and Jordan announced, on Monday 18 September, an initiative to relaunch the Middle East peace process.
“It is the 30 years since the Oslo Agreements. And in the last 30 years after the Oslo Agreements, we cannot say that we are closer to peace between Israel and Palestine. On the contrary, the number of settlements has increased a lot, and the Two-State Solution needs a stronger effort”, explained the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, at the end of a meeting of some fifty foreign affairs ministers in New York.
In his view, if the international community really wants a two-state solution, it must support it in practical terms. “We want to inject new energy into the peace process. (...) The parties are not ready [at this stage]. They are not ready. They cannot start another round of negotiations, but we cannot stay idle repeating the mantra of the Two-State Solution without doing [all we can] to get it”, added Mr Borrell.
The initiative focuses on creating a ‘Peace Supporting Package’ that “will produce peace dividends for all“ Palestinians and Israelis once they have reached an agreement, says the joint statement from the two organisations and the three countries.
The aim, they say, is “to produce detailed programmes and contributions, conditional upon achieving a final status agreement, that will support the peace, and ensure that all peoples of the region reap its benefits”.
Three Working Groups have been set up to develop the elements of the package. The first, a Political and Security Working Group, will be in charge of developing an outline of potential post-peace regional, political and security cooperation mechanisms. The second, an Economic and Environmental Working Group, will focus on developing proposals for economic cooperation, including in the areas of trade, investment, innovation, transport infrastructure, natural resources, as well as climate change and the environment. The third, a Human Dimension Working Group, will focus on developing proposals for cooperation in humanitarian, intercultural, and human security issues.
According to Mr Borrell, these groups will meet “within a month” in Brussels. Their progress will be assessed every 3 months, with the first assessment in December 2023. “The aim is for the Working Groups to conclude their work and to have the ‘Peace Supporting Package’ ready for presentation by September 2024”, the statement said.
The participants also reiterated that, in parallel with these efforts, there is an urgent need for credible negotiations to bring the conflict to an end and achieve peace within a specific timeframe.
To se the statement: https://aeur.eu/f/8ng (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)